The Ming Dynasty

Printing in the Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty (1368---644) is the most glorious period in the history of printing in China. The main indications of this include:

Firstly, all the inventions of previous dynasties ---woodblock carving, wood movable type, metal movable type, whole metal plates, and techniques of multi-colour printing---were used in the Ming Dynasty.

Secondly, paper, ink and woodblock carving techniques attained an unprecedented standard.

Thirdly, the scope, variety and volume of printing reached the highest level in history. Besides printing traditional books, such as the classics, history, philosophy and belle-lettres, in large quantities, the gazetteers, books on science and technology, books on craftsmanship, popular readers, primers, plays, and novels were also printed in great quantities.

Fourthly, the style of characters used specially for printing, the Song style, became more refined and was widely used.

Fifthly, with the invention of woodblock colour printing, the craft of printing was perfected.

Letter-designs of the Sunglo Studio(colour printing with blind stamping)

Shi Zhu Zhai Book on the Art of Painting(A coloured book printed by Hu Zheng Yan in the Ming Dynasty)

The largest printing house operated by the Ming court was the factory run by the Directorate of Ceremonies. Construction of the factory began in the nineteenth year of Yongle (1421), and by the Jiajing years, it had around one thousand artisans working on woodblocks, printing, binding, ink-making and brush-making. It was the largest printing factory in Chinese history.

表：Tracing Direct carve individant colour blocks Printing the blocks sequentially Printed produce in colour The process of technology of water colour blocks Printed sheets Folding Gathering Trimming Punch Sewing Box making Box making The process of binding technology


The Ming Dynasty Encyclopedia of Rituals(engraved and printed by the Imperial Printer in the 9th year of the Jia Jing Reign)	Buddhist Scriptures of the Southern Dynasties(engraved and printed at Nanjing)	The Luan Cheng Collection(engraved in the 20th year of Jia JIng Reign by the Sichuan Commander's Office)


Directory of Officials(printed by workshops in Beijing,Ming Dynasty)	Cross-Referencing Sun Zi(duo-tone printing in 1620)	The Y bian Dictionary(engraved by Jin De Printing House in Jianyang,1492)


Collected Writings of Monk Hong Xiu (engraved by the Ji Gu Lodge of the Mao family,1643)	History of Chang An (engraved by Lin Yang Bookshop,Shanxi Province,in the 4th year of the Cheng Hua Reign,1468)	A Story of Hong Fo(engraved by Rong Yu Printing House in Hangzhou ,Ming Dynasty)

ENTER	The process of technology of water colour blocks
	The process of binding technology